{"id":2712,"date":"2024-09-15T07:43:17","date_gmt":"2024-09-15T14:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2712"},"modified":"2024-09-16T06:30:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T13:30:27","slug":"no-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/15\/no-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"No Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Your character gets everything they ever wanted \u2014 only to realize the true cost.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glory, honor, the chance to prove himself. For any warrior, this would be the chance of a lifetime. For Kendrick, however, prophesied to perform the greatest feat a person could, this was everything. The enemy was encroaching on his clan\u2019s sacred lands. Not other clans, not even people<\/em>, no. People knew well enough to leave sacred spaces unsullied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, these were abominations that shouldn\u2019t exist. They had no connection to the land, no history in this place beyond the last few moons. In those few moons, though, they built their monstrous edifices close to the sacred river on one side and loosed their gargantuan beasts over lands that bordered the shared burial grounds of all the clans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These giant creatures looked like people, but on an immense scale. If Kendrick was to drive them out, it would require his deep connection to the land. That, and the intelligence and keen minds of people compared to the slow, stupid giants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick donned his uniform and headed out to scout the giants in the forest. They weren\u2019t difficult to spot when one knew where to look, but they were surprising in their ability to be stealthy when they desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He came across a couple of them, both females. He used his years of experience to climb into the lower canopy without making a sound. If there were females here, there had to be males close by. They wouldn\u2019t let their females wander too far without protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he scanned as far as he could see, the giantesses below him grunted at each other, and one of them scratched marks on a stack of leaves with a stick that had a burnt end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clever, but hardly indicative of intelligence. It was likely she saw a person writing and was copying what she\u2019d seen. The leaves were probably because they weren\u2019t smart enough to make clay tablets on which to write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A crashing in the brush caught his attention. Four males showed up and they grunted at the females. An exchange of grunts later, the females followed the males back into the heavy brush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick waited until they were completely out of hearing and returned to the forest floor. Following them would be simple enough. Each of their footprints were as long as he was tall. The female had dropped her burnt stick. It had seemed small in her hand but was nearly as tall as him. The outside was coated in some sort of paint and was smoothed round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the time being, he hid the scratching stick in the brush so he could bring it back to the elders to study. He had tracks to follow, if he was to learn everything he could about the monsters. Only fools rushed to attack an enemy they didn\u2019t understand, and Kendrick was not<\/em> going to be a fool today or any day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The giants covered great distances in a short time, their immense strides taking them through the forest at a pace unsustainable for any but the largest or swiftest creatures. Even here, though, people had an advantage over the monsters. Through their connection to the forest, people had developed methods of travel that far-outstripped walking or running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tracks led to a worn path the size of a major road. In parts, it was as wide as the entire village square. Kendrick followed it to the edge of the clearing where the giants had erected their constructions made from trees torn out of the ground and ripped into strips. He didn\u2019t know how they accomplished that, but he didn\u2019t want to face that kind of strength head-on. He would if he had to, but a harassing strategy was looking like his best bet and there was no one more capable of it than him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He climbed a tree just a little way back from the clearing, all the way to the very top. Once atop the tree, he unfurled his wings from the pack on his back and jumped. To say he could fly would be an overstatement. Instead, the wings allowed him to soar, gliding down unless he caught a strong updraft. Here in the forest, those kinds of updrafts didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He managed to sail all the way back to where he\u2019d stashed the burnt stick. The elders would know what kind of wood it was, and what kind of paint was on the outside. They might even know how the monsters found such smooth, straight sticks in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stick wasn\u2019t overly heavy, but it was too cumbersome to climb with, so he had to walk the rest of the way back to the village. It was nearing sunset when he returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not wanting to alarm anyone with the giant\u2019s stick, he snuck into the village from the back side and made straight for the elder\u2019s hall. The walls were formed of a cottonwood tree that was grown around a clay form. Once the burl formed completely around the clay, it was hollowed out by breaking and removing the clay, and a door added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick brought the stick to the elders, who sat around their table, enjoying mushroom soup by the light of a glow-worm lamp. \u201cElders, one of the monsters, a female, was mimicking writing with this burnt stick on a pile of leaves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They all rose from their meal and gathered around to examine the stick. \u201cSo smooth,\u201d said the first. \u201cThis paint is so even,\u201d said the second. The third sniffed at the blackened end, her forehead crinkled, and she scraped at it with a knife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The look of consternation didn\u2019t leave her face. The more she scraped, the more blackened dust it created. She grabbed a hatchet from the workbench and began chopping away at the end of the stick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more she chopped, the more concerned she looked. Finally, she began chopping at the middle of the stick until the black core showed there as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a finely made instrument, not a painted, burnt stick.\u201d She carefully carved away more of the wood from the dark central rod, until the rod broke. \u201cNotice how soft the center is, in order to leave marks. This was not grown like this, either. It was made from dead wood and whatever this central rod is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow can you tell, Grandmother?\u201d Kendrick asked. She wasn\u2019t his actual grandmother, but everyone in the village, including the other elders, \u201cGrandfather\u201d and \u201cGreat Aunt ,\u201d called her that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook here,\u201d she said. \u201cThis faint line. This is two pieces of dead wood, joined together somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re saying the giants are smart?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m saying they are like people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow will I fulfill my prophecy?\u201d he asked. \u201cIf they were brute monsters, I could scare them from the forest and they would leave us alone for many generations. If you\u2019re saying they\u2019re as smart as people\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not what Grandmother said,\u201d Great Aunt cut in. \u201cShe said they are<\/em> people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut how? People know how to work with the trees for what they need, rather than kill them. They kill their own beasts and eat their flesh. They are monsters, through and through.\u201d Just saying what he knew of them sent shivers down Kendrick\u2019s spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grandfather chuckled. \u201cDid you think that combat was the only way to fulfill a prophecy? Maybe you\u2019re meant to talk to them and ask<\/em> them to leave.\u201d He broke down in a coughing laugh until Grandmother caught his eye with her stern expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKendrick. You\u2019ve worked your whole life toward this,\u201d she said, \u201cbut maybe in the wrong direction. Still, take the skills you have and do what you can to keep the giant people from crossing into the burial grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will,\u201d he said. \u201cI will keep them out, even if costs my life.\u201d He strode out of the elder\u2019s hall into the lengthening shadows with a sense of dread purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the door closed behind him, he heard Great Aunt tut and exclaim, \u201cAlways so serious, that one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick spent the night preparing his weapons and trying to decide if anyone should join him as he went to confront the monster people. He ultimately decided he would be better off doing it alone. He set up a mind stone up in his room that would record everything he experienced. Every sight, sound, scent, and vibration; even those he didn\u2019t consciously notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he did die, the elders would know to look for the stone and discover what happened. Either way, he knew<\/em> he was heading out to fulfill his prophecy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took two glides from the tallest trees to reach the trail at the edge of the monsters\u2019 clearing. There was activity in the clearing, with the monsters using open fire to roast the flesh<\/em> of their slain beasts<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took all Kendrick had not to vomit, but he steeled himself as he had done in combat with the other clans in the past. The creatures were busy and not paying attention to the tree line, so he took advantage of that. He climbed to the top of one of the trees on the very edge of the clearing, careful to keep himself hidden among the leaves, his uniform providing perfect camouflage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three times as he moved into position, one or more of the creatures looked right at him. They must have excellent hearing<\/em>, he thought. Each time, he froze and waited for them to look away. Since there was no other reaction from them, he was certain he hadn\u2019t been spotted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick readied his spear, unfurled his wings, and jumped. He wouldn\u2019t be able to kill them with a single blow, but if he could get over the fire, he could ride the thermals up and keep diving at them and harassing them with his blade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Faster than he thought they would be able, one of the females turned and put a hand out, stopping him before he reached the fire. \u201cAnd now I die,\u201d he said. He froze. There he stood on her palm and any moment now, she would squeeze, and he would be dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blow never came. Instead, the female grunted at him. It sounded like words. The accent was thick, but she was\u2026speaking<\/em>?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWh\u2014what?\u201d he stammered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to hurt you, little guy, but you gotta be careful. You almost flew into the fire.\u201d He looked at the giantess. It was the same one he\u2019d seen the previous day, and she had another of the writing sticks behind her ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick growled and raised his spear. \u201cI was going to use the thermals to gain altitude. If you hadn\u2019t seen me, you\u2019d be bleeding profusely right now. I may have lost the element of surprise, but I challenge you all to combat!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy do you want to hurt me?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re monsters! You eat the flesh of your beasts and kill the trees. You have no connection to the forest, and yet you are here, defiling it.\u201d He held an aggressive pose on her palm, doing his best to keep from trembling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to defile anything,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we chose this clearing under a dead tree and the wood from it to build our shacks. We\u2019re only going to be here for a year or two, cataloging the animals, then, when we leave, the jungle will reclaim all this and, in a decade or less, it will be as if we were never here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do you speak the language of people?\u201d he asked. \u201cAre you demons?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was going to ask how a little flying guy in the Amazon speaks Welsh,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick moved to jump. His first thrust would be her eye to incapacitate her. Glory was in his hands now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His lunge was cut short by her other hand blocking him and taking the brunt of the blow. She didn\u2019t even wince as the spear sunk into the meat of her palm. Instead, she pulled her hand away, taking his spear with it. A shake of her hand freed the spear to drop to the ground below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They stared at each other for a few seconds, Kendrick still doing his best to look intimidating. She broke the stalemate. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen you several times over the past few weeks. We saw you watching us yesterday. You seemed interested in my pencil<\/em>,\u201d \u2014 another word he didn\u2019t understand until she pointed at the stick behind her ear \u2014 \u201cso, I left it for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow did you see me? I am invisible in the trees.\u201d She shook off his strongest blow and it wasn\u2019t even worthy of a mention. He felt glory slipping away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She laughed; a monstrous, deep, booming laugh that made his knees weak. \u201cIf you want to be sneaky, maybe don\u2019t wear chartreuse<\/em> and orange<\/em>.\u201d He didn\u2019t understand a couple of the words, but she smiled at him. \u201cThose bright colors really stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick looked at his drab, spotted uniform. There was nothing bright about it. Maybe their eyes just worked different to his. This was getting him nowhere. He had a task, and it was time to do it. He thought about what Grandfather had said, joking or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He relaxed his stance. \u201cMy name is Kendrick, the strongest warrior of my clan. I have been sent to keep you from entering sacred lands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPleased to meet you, Kendrick, I\u2019m Anwen. Now, which lands are your sacred lands?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendrick turned in her palm and gestured to the west. \u201cThe river toward the sunset from here is strictly for the gods, and all the plants that grow on its shore as well. Do not drink from it, do not water your plants from it, do not allow beasts to drink from it, and do not eat anything that grows within a hundred paces of the river. That\u2019s, um, my paces, not yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, yes, the creek,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s uranium<\/em> in the creek. That\u2019s a poisonous rock. We will continue to avoid it. Anywhere else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He turned to the south. \u201cThere is a clearing to that direction, that lies along the sacred river. Nothing grows there except the stones that mark our dead before their soul travels the gods\u2019 river to the afterlife. It is the shared graveyard of all the clans and is holy ground. Do not go there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to disturb your sacred sites, and certainly not your graveyard. Although, one of the horses got loose last week and wandered close to there. Unfortunately, he ate some grass while he was near the river and is sick now. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to make it. Is there anywhere else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is all. I will not reveal the location of our village, or any other clan\u2019s village.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have our word, Kendrick.\u201d Anwen smiled. \u201cYou can tell your people that we will be staying here, and in the jungle to the east while we study the animals around here. We\u2019d like to learn more about you and your people, and let your people learn more about us, but we won\u2019t force you. If any of your people want to hang out with a bunch of nerdy<\/em> humans, you know where to find us. We\u2019ll even make sure to cook vegetarian for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never thought I\u2019d talk to a monster, and I never thought a monster would turn out to be a person after all.\u201d Kendrick wanted to get home, but that would require climbing at least twice, unless\u2026. \u201cAnwen, may I ask a favor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, Kendrick. What do you need?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCould you move closer to the updraft from the fire?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you sure?\u201d she asked. \u201cI don\u2019t want you to get hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She moved her hand over the edge of the fire pit, where Kendrick could feel the warm air rising. He unfurled his wings and jumped, circling to climb high above even the tallest trees on the rising column of air. As he circled ever higher, he caught sight of their food stores; baskets of fruit, mushrooms, strange vegetables he\u2019d never seen, and the largest supply of honey he\u2019d ever laid eyes on. One of them was putting it into a mug of hot water with a bag of something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once he was high enough, he left the thermal to glide home. He couldn\u2019t wait to tell the elders about the monsters \u2014 giant people<\/em>, he reminded himself \u2014 and their offer. There was to be no moment of glory or honor for a warrior. His single attack attempt had been foiled by only one of the giants, and he\u2019d ended up just asking them. Still, he\u2019d accomplished what he set out to do and he knew he would be back, if for no other reason than to sample their vegetables and honey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Your character gets everything they ever wanted \u2014 only to realize the true cost. available at Reedsy Glory, honor, the chance to prove himself. For any warrior, this would be the chance of a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[216,210,209],"class_list":["post-2712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-HK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2712"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2714,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2712\/revisions\/2714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}